2025:CGHC:45589-DB MANPREET KAUR Digitally signed by NAFR MANPREET KAUR Date: 2025.09.09 10:52:21 +0530 HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR CRA No. 184 of 2025 Sumit Kumar Shrivas S/o Kanhaiya Lal Shrivas Aged About 31 Years R/o Bhairotal, Police Station Kusmunda, District- Korba, Chhattisgarh.

... Appellant(s)

versus State Of Chhattisgarh Through Police Station Kusmunda, District- Korba, Chhattisgarh.

... Respondent(s)

For Appellant(s) : Mr. A.V. Shridhar, Advocate For Respondent(s) : Mr. Shashank Thakur, Dy. A.G.

Hon'ble Shri Ramesh Sinha, Chief Justice Hon'ble Shri Bibhu Datta Guru , Judge Judgment on Board Per Ramesh Sinha, Chief Justice

08.09.2025

1.

This criminal appeal under Section 415(2) of the BNSS, 2023 is directed against the impugned judgment of conviction and order of sentence dated 03.12.2024 passed by the 1^st Upper Session Judge, Katghora, District- Korba (C.G.) in Sessions Trial No. 25/2023, by which the appellant herein has been convicted for offence under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (for short, the IPC) and sentenced to undergo Rigorous Imprisonment for life and fine of Rs.2000/-, in default of payment of fine, to further undergo rigorous imprisonment for 02 months and under Section 201 of the IPC and sentenced to undergo R.I. for 04 years and fine of Rs.2,000/-, in default of payment of fine, to further undergo R.I. for 02 months.

2.

Case of the prosecution, in brief, is that on 31.01.2023, at about 7:30 a.m., the accused Sumit Shrivas lodged FIR No. 08/23 (Ex.P.16) at Kusmunda Police Station reporting that his wife, Jamuna Shrivas, had committed suicide. According to the accused, he was married to the deceased on 21.04.2018 and ran a salon in front of his house. On the night of the incident, at approximately 8:30 p.m., the accused was playing Ludo on his mobile in the salon with Manoj Kanwar, Pintu Kanwar, and Monu Chandra. During this time, his wife repeatedly called him for dinner, which led to an argument. The accused allegedly slapped his wife once, and due to the dispute, both did not eat dinner. The couple spent time looking at their wedding album until midnight and then went to sleep. Around 1:00 a.m., the accused woke up to the sound of their child crying and found his wife was not on the bed. On checking the courtyard near the bathroom, he found Jamuna Shrivas hanging from an iron pipe using a towel. The accused cut the towel with a sickle, but the deceased had already died. According to the accused, the deceased committed suicide as a result of the earlier dispute.

3.

On receipt of this information, Kusmunda Police Station registered Merg Intimation No. 09/23 (Ex.P.16). The investigation was conducted by Inspector Chandrashekhar Vaishnav (PW-14). A letter (Ex.P.17) was sent to the SDM, Katghora, directing the Tehsildar to conduct panchnama proceedings regarding the inquest and seizure of evidence. In compliance, Tehsildar Sonit Meria (PW-15) seized the iron sickle and broken glass bangle in presence of witnesses on 31.01.2023 as per seizure memo (Ex.P.01). Notices were issued to witnesses (Ex.P-02) to attend the postmortem. Site maps and Panchanama were prepared (Ex.P-03). The deceased’s body was sent to PHC Bhilai Bazar where Dr. Sanviksha Gupta conducted the preliminary examination and issued the postmortem receipt (Ex.P-12). Dr. P.S. Kanwar and Dr. Sanviksha Gupta conducted the postmortem and prepared reports (Ex.P-13 and Ex.P-14) confirming the cause of death. A query report regarding the seized towel was submitted by Dr. Sanviksha Gupta (Ex.P.15). Further procedural steps included preparation of the crime report and site map (Ex.P.20, Ex.P.21), obtaining a site plan from the Patwari via Tehsildar (Ex.P.23), recording statements of witnesses Sandeep Sharma (PW-7) and Bhawani Chauhan (PW-8) (Ex.P.05), recording the memorandum statement of the accused in their presence (Ex.P.06), and the arrest of the accused (Ex.P.07). The Patwari also prepared the site map (Ex.P.10), and the relevant repor